Clutch purse
My oldest daughter has always loved to read. Her sister came up with a great idea to turn a book into a clutch purse as a Christmas gift this year and I was able to help her make it.
Have you seen anything like this? Here is one that my other daughter purchased. It is very hard to tell it is a purse!
We followed a tutorial by Erica of Caught On A Whim which she calls DIY: Nerdy Chic Book Clutch.
Photo and Tutorial by Erica of Caught On A Whim
Erica has two other tutorials that go along with this one. One is for covering a book with fabric and the other is for cutting out the inside of the book to create a space to make a book safe – you know, to hide your cash or jewelry in!
The book that we used was an old book found at an antique shop. It has a pretty cover and so we chose not to cover it with fabric. It looks as though it could be leather bound, but it isn’t.
Inside covered with fabric and pages cut.
Holes are made with a needle along the top and bottom of the first and last few pages and the fabric insert is sewn to these. We found that we could have sewn through the pages without making those holes first as we had a very sturdy and sharp needle.
Figuring dimension for fabric insert.
The pages are all mod-podged together (in 2 sections) and we painted the edges of our book to make them look gilded. Putting the clasp on involved first glueing a small piece of scrap wood to the pages in order to align the clasp with the outside of the book.
Clasp glued in place and pages painted.
It ended up looking pretty great!
I Finally Have Time 
Okay, this may be the coolest yet!!! I KNOW you could sell these. Let me know when they go on the market.
Bravo Linda another amazing creation!
Wow, very very cool. Just don’t forget your bookpurse on the metro. 🙂
Really clever and turned out great. Thanks for idea!
Wow! How wonderful! And, as always, such great process photos!
Linda it is so lovely! I really like the book cover on the book you used. It has such character. Using this book as a clutch will be a great way to show it off and cherish it for a long time. Also, great photos of making the inner fabric pieces. Thanks so much for sharing! I’m hoping to make another one for myself again soon! 🙂
Very cool! I’l love to try that!
Hi Linda,
just stumbled upon your blog for the first time and already like it!
Could you please enlighten me what mod-podging is? Never heard of it, but that may be because English is not my native language 😉
Best wishes!
Conny
Mod Podge is a product that is similar to slightly watered down white glue. You brush it on with a foam (or bristle) brush and it starts out milky white in color but then dries clear.
Sounds interesting – I will check it out in stores in Germany, if they have it 🙂
Cheers!
Conny